


How I Wonder...

by tres_mechante



Category: Lost in Space (TV)
Genre: F/M, Older Not Dead prompt-a-thon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-21
Updated: 2014-02-21
Packaged: 2018-01-13 07:24:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1217539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tres_mechante/pseuds/tres_mechante
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This wasn't what he'd meant when he promised her the stars.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How I Wonder...

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Older Not Dead. My prompt was "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star".

Maureen stood in the doorway of the Jupiter 2 and peered into the darkness just toward the edge of their security perimeter. She could see her husband standing in the shadow of the force field generator, staring up at the night sky.

She took a tentative step onto the ramp and called out softly “John?”

He whirled quickly. “What’s wrong?”

She walked closer to him. “I was just wondering the same thing,” she said. “What’s wrong? You’ve been out here pacing for almost two hours.”

John hung his head for a moment before looking up at her. “It’s nothing you need to worry about,” he said as he walked closer to her. “Really, there is nothing to worry about.”

Maureen just shook her head at him. “Is that so? Well I--”

“Mom? Dad?”

Maureen didn’t take her eyes from John when she answered Penny. “I’ll be right there. Go tell your brother to put away whatever he’s working on and both of you should get ready for bed.”

“But--”

“You heard your mother,” said John, nodding his head toward the ship’s interior.

Penny sighed dramatically, but did as she was told.

John gestured vaguely behind him. “Well, I think I’d better--”

“Stop right there, mister.” Maureen smiled when her husband froze, but then frowned when she noticed his haunted look. “John?”

He sighed heavily, and tilted his head back to stare at the stars above. “I have no idea when our anniversary is.”

Maureen had no idea how to respond to that.

He lowered his head to look at her. “I know the date, that’s not what I meant.” He seemed to scramble for words. “I was going through some of the logs this morning, trying to sort through some of the entries - filling in the blanks from a few of the major system glitches - and….”

“And, what?”

“And it just hit me. I don’t know what the actual date is, so how can I know when our anniversary is - or the kids’ birthdays, for that matter.”

“Oh, John. You know, for a man with multiple degrees, you can be such an idiot sometimes.”

His look of surprise made her smile.

“We know you love us - I know you love me. Showing that love has nothing to do with dates on a calendar.”

“What about our tenth anniversary when I got so tied up in the lab that I forgot you were waiting for me at that restaurant?”

Maureen bit back a grin at the reminder. She was certain he still shuddered at the cold shoulder he’d received when he got home two days later.

“Well, I can’t really too much given the awards you received for that research and the fact that it made the Jupiter 2 possible,” she said.

“Maybe it would have been better if this project had never got off the ground,” he muttered under his breath.

“You can stop right there,” she said. “The Jupiter project was - is - a worthwhile one! Now, you listen to me John Robinson. You weren’t responsible for what happened to us, but we are still alive because of you. We are surviving and still together - and we will get home - because of you.”

John gazed into her eyes, shaking his head slowly. “You really believe that,” he said, wonder in his voice.

“With all my heart.”

John let himself be wrapped in her embrace, and softly whispered, “When I proposed, I promised you the stars. This isn’t quite what I had in mind.”

She giggled. “That makes two of us, but I wouldn’t change a thing.”

“What about Dr. Smith?”

“Okay, yes, him I’d change,” she admitted with a laugh. “The point is, we’re together and we’ll deal with whatever comes, the way we always have.”

“Together.”

“Together.”

They leaned toward one another, intent on sealing this vow with kiss.

“Mom! Penny locked me out of the lab”

“Mom! Will won’t get ready for bed”

John and Maureen pulled apart at the sound of their children’s approach.

Maureen sighed in disappointment. “So much for a romantic kiss under the stars.”

John waggled his eyebrows at her in a manner that should not have been as endearing as it was. “You want romance under the stars? Meet me by the generator in an hour.”

“What are you planning?"

“Mom!”

John just grinned at her. “One hour, and you’ll get all the romance you can handle," he promised, backing away.

Maureen blushed at his promise, but turned back to the ship and their bickering children. The sooner they were settled, the sooner she could return to her husband.

Judy and Don waited for her at the entrance to the living quarters. “Thank you,” she said.

Don nodded once and, after a brief glance at Judy, he headed for the open hatch.

Judy hugged her mother. “Is Dad okay?”

“He’s fine, dear. You did the right thing, coming to me.”

Judy gave her mother another hug and then nudged her away from the children’s rooms. “I’ll take care of them and make sure they go to bed,” she said. “You freshen up or something. And don’t worry about getting up early - Don and I will take care of the morning chores.”

For the second time that night, Maureen felt her cheeks warm.

Judy gave her another nudge. “Don’t just stand there. Shoo!”

Maureen could only laugh as her eldest child sent her off on what was essentially a hot date. Well, John had promised her romance, and it would be rude to keep him waiting.

 

=end=


End file.
